Sean Locklear has been here before, where he bounces from side to side on the offensive line in hopes of finding a permanent home. The summer comes and goes, and when the leaves turn and the NFL season starts, he has switched again.

This go-around with the Giants, where Locklear has played left tackle on the first unit for the past two days replacing Will Beatty (back), he hopes guarding Eli Manning’s vulnerable blind side can be his place of residency.

“I just look at it as an opportunity to get in there and play,” Locklear said Tuesday after practice in preparation for Friday’s home preseason game against the Bears. “Learn the system, learn the offense and play ball, which they signed me to do.”

Entering his 10th season, the 6-foot-4, 310-pound North Carolina State product was signed by the Giants this offseason to a one-year, $890,000 contract. After being taken by the Seahawks in the third round of the 2004 draft, the 31-year-old Locklear spent all of his first professional training camp at left tackle while Pro Bowl lineman Walter Jones held out for a larger contract. When the season started and Jones agreed to his franchise-tag deal, Locklear moved back to his natural right side, where he played throughout college.

“My main purpose is to learn the system,” Locklear said. “I played most of my career on the right, I’ve done it every camp, almost, playing left then switching to right, so I’m comfortable at whatever they put me at.”

Coach Tom Coughlin wasn’t optimistic about the progress of Beatty’s recovery when asked about it on Monday, saying he is “still struggling.” Last season David Diehl took most of the snaps at left tackle, but he is back to his preferred right side — at least for the time being, while the coaching staff continues to evaluate Locklear.

“There’s going to have to be flexibility,” said Coughlin, who has had to juggle his offensive line throughout the past couple seasons because of injuries. “We obviously expect and live in expectation that Beatty will come back to the practice field unless something would happen otherwise. … And of course, it’s kind of close. We’re getting close and those five guys need to play a lot together.” The man whose physical well-being resides on the continuity of the offensive line is not too concerned about their undetermined lineup.

“I’m not worried at all,” Manning said. “Sean’s a veteran guy. He knows his stuff, knows what he’s doing, he’s come in and worked well with the starting group. Any time you play left tackle, or play offensive line, it’s like, ‘Hey, what do you call things?’ Everybody’s done the same scheme, it’s just done in a different way, or you call it something different. So, he’s got everything down.”